Spotlight on Brand Messaging: Achieving Success

Brand messaging and brand identity are important aspects of business development. When just getting started as an entrepreneur, it is important to know who you are as an organization and what story you want to tell to your audience. Sometimes, established businesses who already have a brand identity will also begin to explore how to develop or adapt their current brand messaging because they want to change their story.

Here are 4 things to keep in mind when creating successful brand messaging:

Identity

Brand messaging helps to define who you are as a brand in the marketplace and how you are different from everyone else. Before you can create your identity, you need to determine your positioning within the industry as well as what type of tone and voice you feel represents you. For example, if you are a law firm, you probably wouldn’t use a shoot from the hip comedic undertone, whereas a creative firm such as an advertising agency has a little more leeway.

One of the most common mistakes made when creating your brand identity and messaging is that many organizations create aspirational messaging. They talk about what they want to be as if it is already happening. Save that for your vision for the company and remember that when you are creating brand messaging for the masses, authenticity will win over aspirational any day. It builds trust.

Storytelling

When you are crafting your messaging, remember that it should tell your organizational story. While your story should elicit excitement for the brand, it should be short, simple and clear. Don’t get bogged down by all of the buzzwords and jargon in your industry. In fact, try to steer clear of that!

Audience

To exist in business, you need an audience. Who are your customers and do you really know them? Your messaging has to resonate with them because it is how you will attract and retain customers. To ensure your audience is listening, you need to tap into their emotions. Maybe for your audience this means focusing on all of the bells and whistles you can offer, but it could also mean that you want to focus on the fact that you are a family owned organization building on a legacy.

Make sure that your messaging is always benefit driven. Think about questions your audience will ask like “what’s in it for me?” or “why should I pay attention?” If you have answered those questions through your messaging, then you are on the right track.

Consistency

Consistency will be your best friend when it comes to brand messaging. With the right messaging, you should be able to pitch your business to anyone. Stick to who you are and let people get to know you and remember you. If something is not working or you just need a refresh of your messaging, don’t be afraid to tweak things, but remember that these changes should be made with careful thought and across the whole of the organization.

One of the most common mistakes business owners make, especially with small businesses as they are getting started within the first couple of years, is that they don’t sit down to decide who they really want to be and where they want to get to. This leads to too much change in messaging over a short period of time. Make brand messaging a part of your overall strategic planning process and allow it to breathe and set in before making changes too fast.